The public will soon have the opportunity to explore Dame Vera Lynn’s remarkable wartime treasure trove after the collection was given to the Imperial War Museum.
The late singer’s Second World War archive, which includes more than 600 fan letters, will go through a ‘rigorous collection care process’ before it can be displayed to the nation, the south London museum said.
The collection includes the Forces’ Sweetheart’s personal diary from her 1944 tour of India, the contract for her BBC radio show Sincerely Yours, 160 wartime contracts for more than 200 engagements, letters from Dame Vera to her husband Harry Lewis and items of clothing from her Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) tropical uniform.
Dame Vera Lynn was a singer whose music and performances were popular during the Second World War.
Her rousing songs such as We’ll Meet Again, (There’ll be Bluebirds Over) the White Cliffs of Dover and There’ll Always Be an England earned her the affectionate moniker The Forces’ Sweetheart.
She risked her life to visit troops, often travelling thousands of miles, during World War II to give hope to those she called ‘my boys’.
Dame Vera gave outdoor concerts for soldiers in Egypt, India and Burma as part of the ENSA.
She was famous for her tour in India from March to June 1944 that made her a hero to the ‘forgotten Fourteenth Army’, which was still fighting the bitter Burma campaign.
Dame Vera Lynn was a singer whose music and performances were popular during the Second World War
An Auxiliary Territorial Service hat worn by Dame Vera Lynn on display at the Imperial War Museum
A pair of Khaki shorts worn by Dame Vera during a preview of objects from a vast new acquisition of her wartime archive
Her BBC radio show Sincerely Yours connected troops abroad with their loved ones listening at home over the airwaves during the conflict.
Dame Vera’s final studio album, Unforgettable, was released in 2010.
When Dame Vera died in hospital in June 2020 at the age of 103, the first person to be told was the late Queen Elizabeth.
They had known each other since she sang at the then Princess Elizabeth’s 16th birthday at Windsor.
The two reportedly had an enduring friendship throughout their lives. Dame Vera’s daughter, Virginia, previously told the Daily Mail: ‘They used to meet quite a lot at various dos.
‘The Queen had a very dry sense of humour and Mummy had a giggly humour on silly things that would just hit her funny bone. She couldn’t have given a stuff really that they came from different worlds. She loved her.’
She became the oldest artist to have a top 40 album in the UK in the year she died, with her greatest hits album 100 reached the chart.
The singer was a plumber’s daughter from East Ham, London. She married her musician husband Harry Lewis in 1941 after meeting him in 1939. The couple had one child, Virginia, who was born in 1946.
Dame Vera, a plumber’s daughter from East Ham, died in hospital in June 2020 at the age of 103
A photo signed by Vera Lynn during her 1944 India tour that will be on display at the London museum
A letter from Dame Vera Lynn to her husband, Harry Lewis
A photo showing Dame Vera Lynn wearing a pair of khaki shorts which was part of her tropical uniform
Dame Vera Lynn sings to troops in England in September 1940 on one of her many visits to see the forces during the war
Queen Elizabeth II receives a record album, extracts from 25 years of Royal Variety Performance, from singer Vera Lynn in 1973
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After the war, Dame Lynn devoted her time to charity work for ex-servicemen, disabled children and breast cancer.
In 1976 Lynn was made a dame and in 2000 she was named as the Briton who best exemplified the spirit of the 20th century.
‘Her music and commitment to visiting troops during the Second World War made her a symbol of hope for Britons both at home and abroad,’ a spokesman for the Imperial War Museum said.
‘She remained closely connected to the armed forces for the rest of her 90-year career, and IWM is proud to be part of preserving her legacy through this significant acquisition.’
